Health Issues Concerning African American Population

2986 Words12 Pages
Running head: AFRICAN AMERICAN HEALTH ISSUES

The Health Issues Concerning the African American Population

Andrea Chisholm

2633467

Health Studies 201

Assignment 3

Athabasca University

August 20, 2007

Student Manuel © 2005

African Americans first arrived to the United States as a crew on a pirate ship in the year 1619 (Bennett, 1992 as cited in Edelman & Mandle, 2002). The American population saw these new immigrants as an opportunity and captured many of the six million African immigrants and sold them as slaves (Bennett, 1992 as cited in Edelman & Mandle, 2002). The African American community suffered through a history of slavery and discrimination which has led to their current health and wellness
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Alcohol is also problematic for the African American population. Alcohol is one of the most significant problems among African Americans and leads to more violence, abuse, isolation and social consequences among black women when compared to white women (Donatelle, 2003). African Americans tend to have more of an alcohol problem as a population whole compared to whites but tend to consume less alcohol overall (Donatelle, 2004). Excessive, long term alcohol intake can lead to enhanced risk of developing cancer, a damaged central nervous system and harmful effects to the cardiovascular system (Donatelle, 2004). Since African Americans are already at more risk for developing cancer and cardiovascular disease, alcohol would enhance the risk of developing these disease and thus would reduce their overall health. Another health issue that African Americans struggle with is diabetes. Diabetes is a disease that involves the body producing high levels of blood glucose levels (Powers, Dodd & Noland, 2006). There are two types of diabetes; type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is known as the juvenile onset diabetes and caused by a lack of insulin production and secretion while type 2 is characterized by deficiency of insulin production, decreased production of insulin and increased insulin production and can usually be controlled by diet and exercise (Smeltzer & Bare, 2003). African Americans are twice as likely to
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